Thursday, November 10, 2011

When on vacation, I'm all about sitting around the pool, reading a good book and watching the kids splash around. These days, our travels usually involve minimal sightseeing and maximal R&R. Still, too much lazing around gets me antsy; being inactive for more than a couple of days is torture.

Thankfully, this morning was a particularly active one. On the agenda? CrossFit, outrigger canoe paddling, and snorkeling -- all before lunchtime.

Using a bit of reverse psychology ("Fine by me if you want to sleep in and miss CrossFit"), I managed to get M out of bed and down to Lahaina CrossFit for the 7 a.m. class.

Our workout consisted of three separate components:

1. Interval Sprints

Class started with some self-directed stretching, and then some group warm-up exercises. Once the blood was pumping, Anthony instructed us to perform 10 interval sprints. We ran like our hair was on fire for about 100 meters, and then jogged back -- 10 times. By the time I was done with my third sprint, I was dog-tired. My shirt was already soaked from the humidity and my own perspiration -- and the sun wasn't even bearing down on us yet.

There's something to be said about working out in the chilly pre-dawn darkness, y'all.

Still, it's not like a dozen rounds of Cindy is a walk in the park. In particular, the pull-ups gave me some grief after the first half-dozen rounds. After Round 6, I had to pause a couple of times during each set of pull-ups to wheeze and shake the sweat off my face. Nonetheless, the pull-ups and squats felt fast and smooth, and I managed to finish fairly quickly.

Result: 10:42 as RXed.

(The worst part of the workout was afterwards, when M made me stop taking pictures of her as she did push-ups. Note to self: Do not piss off the person who makes your food.)

3. Cleans (5-5-3-3-1-1)

After Tuesday's running-push-ups-burpees-squats-pull-ups workout and today's running-and-Cindy WOD, I was happy to see some barbell work on the board. The strength workout was optional, but a good number of us stuck around to practice cleans. It's been a week since I lifted an object heavier than my three-year-old kid, so I was in the mood for some squat cleans.

"Be careful with your back," M warned as I went to grab plates. It was a good reminder; even though my back feels infinitely better than it did a few weeks ago, going heavy would be a mistake. I kept it light, and well below my 1-rep max. But by that point, I was exhausted anyway, so I doubt I would've been able to hoist a fully-loaded barbell up even if I'd tried.

Going light does have its disadvantages, though; judging from the bruise on my neck, I was cleaning the bar a bit too aggressively. Either that, or I passed out and someone gave me a hickey while I was unconscious.

After class, M and I drove back to meet up with the rest of the family, and we hit the ocean for an hour of outrigger canoe paddling with Maui Paddle Sports. My cousin and his wife are experienced, competitive, kick-ass paddlers, but M and I are total newbies. Secretly, I was hoping to be seated in one of their canoes so I could just coast and let them do all the heavy paddling.

Alas, M and I -- along with our boys -- were put in a separate canoe, so we actually had to work. It turned out to be incredibly fun and challenging, especially with our three-year-old dragging his paddle in the ocean and our six-year-old using his to giddily slap at the water. Paddling in unison, switching sides, thrusting with arms and back and core, bracing with legs -- all of it made for an excellent full-body workout.

"Regularly learn and play new sports," right?

Last but not least: Snorkeling. There's no better way to cool down than to float around in the warm ocean, casually following the fluorescent fish as they dart through coral.